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Wine, Fried Chick Legs and Rain = Pure Comfort!

It seems almost all cultures have a fried chicken recipe, so pairing this displaced southern girl’s fried chicken with an Italian wine seems perfectly logical on a mid-winter day.

6 versions of chicken and 2009 Coenobium Bianco

The search for a wine that pairs nicely with fried chicken began in September of 2010, the ideal time of year here in San Francisco to serve fried chicken with the best of summer corn and tomatoes as our summer weather kicks in in late August and continues into October. But before I could focus on wine profiles, I had to re-perfect my chick recipe.

Why re-perfect? Because the month before a chef friend completely messed my world up by telling me Crisco (the go-to frying oil of every southern cook I know) was outdated and lard was a 1000% better option and when I tested my tried-and-true recipe in lard I felt like a fish out of water as my recipe fell flat; it had a gorgeous crust but it tasted greasier than I remembered. What to do? Go back to Crisco or experiment with other people’s versions of perfection as, after doing a fair amount of research (darn my friend!), I discovered that cooking with leaf lard from grass-fed pigs, such as that purchasable from Prather Ranch at Ferry Plaza here in San Francisco, is healthier than the everyday world would have you believe, is high in Omega 3s, is high in healthy fats, and is supposed to absorb less fat and create a juicier end-product. So what went wrong with my recipe?

My poor roommate. I subjected him to about 8 taste tests as my once-a-year dinner was one month away and my ego was at stake — I mean, who doesn’t want a group to think honorific thoughts and hopefully ask for seconds and thirds? After trying buttermilk baths and soaks and a variety of herbal infusions and dredging methods (such as egg and milk dips then flour dredges) I settled on (and not too soon as I don’t think my roommate could’ve suffered any more tastings): zero egg/milk wash and just dredging in flour laced with poultry seasoning, garlic powder and hot paprika and cooking in my skillet with about 1/8th inch of oil.

September 2010 came and one of my friend’s brought an Italian wine which all seemed to enjoy. At that time I wasn’t blogging so I didn’t pay close attention to the name of the wine, what the label looked like, what the flavor profile was, etc. I did, however, remember that she purchased it at Biondivino, a wine shop on Green at Polk here in San Francisco specializing in Italian wines.

Skip to January 2012. After making fried chicken for my hairdresser earlier in the week, and with rain on the way, I decided I wanted a weekend of comfort: fire, martinis, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, and, of course, the perfect wine (perfection based on which wine shop visited); so while I was at a wine tasting at Biondivino I queried owner Ceri Smith who recommended I go with either a Coenobium Bianco or Coenobium Rusticum. I chose the Coenobium Bianco 2009 from Lazio, Italy, which sells for $25, and set out to re-experiment (6 more times to be exact) with my fried chicken recipe as I had just read a review of the supposed “perfect” recipe in Bon Appetit, and while I was happy with my recently-derived recipe I wasn’t enthralled and I wanted to feel the word “wow” fill my belly as I partook of this once-in-a-great-while delicacy. I know. My ego occasionally takes me down undetermined paths.

I worked with variations of Bon Appetit’s recipe and my own and while I still haven’t reached perfection, I believe I’m close as I’m down to two future experimentations: Option 1 of applying the dry-rub spice suggested in Bon Appetit but dredging only in flour or Option 2 of applying the dry-rub spice suggested in Bon Appetit then dredging in flour gently flavored with poultry seasoning and savory (I’m planning on serving the winning recipe at my Q3 wine tasting party and will update this story then).

Enough about my ego and chicken! What happened to the wine? you may be wondering, and well you should. It was delicious! and a friend who purchased the same wine and paired with store-bought fried chicken this week concurs. So if you bare with me, below are my tasting notes based on the 6 chick experimentations (it’s always fascinating to experience subtle nuances based on sipping versus eating).

2009 Coenobium Bianco, Lazio, Italy

The Coenobium Bianco is 12.5% alcohol and is a blend of Grechetto (10%), Verdicchio (15%), Trebbiano (55%), and Malvasia (20%) grapes. It is gold in color and smells like apple juice. Pre-food sipping reveals a wine that is slightly acidic, mineral-based, light, airy, and yet there’s a richness that lingers on the tongue. While I can imagine this being the perfect wine for sipping on a warm summer (or San Francisco-based summer) day, due to its mineral richness it works in winter too and balances the heaviness of the dinner.

Pairing 1:
Chick – Bon Appetit (BA) recipe (basically). The dry rubs’ “redness” comes through a little louder than I would’ve liked and had a nice yet slightly greasy crust.
Wine – The apple flavor almost disappears and feels light on the palate while a soft muscat-like effect comes forward.

Pairing 3:
Chick – BA dry rub dredged in buttermilk/egg mixture and flour flavored with poultry seasoning, savory, sea salt and tellicherry pepper. The hot flavors overwhelm and seem single-note while the crust is a tad greasy.
Wine – The apple essence surprises by moving into the forefront and quenching the heat.

Pairing 4 (one of the winning versions):
Chick – BA dry rub dredged in flour flavored with poultry seasoning, savory, sea salt and tellicherry pepper. The green of the additional spices, while creating a complex flavor profile, is a tad too green yet proves warm and satisfying which is why I want to try this again but next time lessen the amount of green spices used as I think there’s something interesting happening.
Wine – A slight apple profile is present but feels more effervescent, fresh, and thirst quenching.

Pairing 5:
Chick – Chicken dredged in buttermilk/egg mixture and flour flavored with poultry seasoning, savory, garlic powder, hot paprika, sea salt and tellicherry pepper. The overall flavor profile is simple, slightly too green, and a tad greasy (so far, if you haven’t noticed, when cooking in lard I find the buttermilk/egg mixtures creates a greasier result).
Wine – The apple flavor basically disappears, and is so light that it felt almost watery. Honestly, it was too light for my liking.

Based on the price and flavor profile of this wine, I would definitely buy this wine again either for sipping by itself or pairing with another round of fried chicken experiments (how many can there logically be?).

Decadent breakfast in front of eco-friendly fire!

By the way, if you ever make fried chicken, it is worth spending a few extra minutes making gravy, especially for the morning-after breakfast of sausage-crumble gravy and biscuits. DELISH.

10 thoughts on “Wine, Fried Chick Legs and Rain = Pure Comfort!”

I did, I did. Thank you. And tonight I paired the leftover wine with a spicy pho-like vietnamese soup; perfect. The wine’s mineral qualities and light muscat/citrus profile balance the crab, tomato, and sriracha flavors of the soup; very multi-cultural.

“Very interesting! I fry my chicken in canola oil with buttermilk and egg and then toss it in flour and fry it in my electric pan that gets exactly the right temp. I do the same with chicken fried steak but add crushed crackers to my flour. So interesting to see all the different ways people do it.”

Until I switched to cooking my southern fried foods in lard, my fried chicken cooking method was almost identical to yours (and I still use my electric skillet and sometimes a cast iron one as well). I hate to admit it, but I do miss frying food in Crisco. My food was always the right balance of juicy and crispy and I didn’t have to brine or soak my chicken overnight or play with complicated flavorings (several decades of “I know my chicken is awesome” just gone). But after reading about the history of Crisco and researching the “benefits” of using lard and being reintroduced to the nostalgia of lard-based cooking (when I use it I see my grandmother making fried apple pies for my grandfather at 5 a.m. before he went off to work in the cotton mill), I’m committed to finding the perfect recipe and creating a may-I-have-more-please crust! So please stay tuned as I plan on continuing to create an award-winning-in-my-head-anyway version.

This is interesting. I do not normally consider wine pairings when it comes to fried chicken (and being Southern, I consider fried chicken one of the five food groups – the other four being biscuits and gravy, fried catfish, dirty rice and gumbo. I’ll have to try to find these wines and give this a go one weekend when I have some time.

As for lard, while I know a lot of people are fans, I’m not. I like Crisco myself.

You saw my picture of biscuits and gravy made with hot spicy sausage, right? I read an interesting blog article today on Bon Appetit (http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/badaily/2012/01/a-southern-fried-education.html) about the wide variety of southern cooking methods and how chefs are no longer apologizing for their grandmothers’ recipes but are embracing them in exciting new ways. But what I find interesting is how southern food is being reinterpreted due to new influences, such as kim chi turnips and tea-brined chicken (see Food and Wine’s September 2010 issue). New spices and styles mingling with traditional and artisanal foods.

Regarding the wine I worked with Saturday night, I did a little research today and, while some reviewers prefer Merlot and Prosecco, the flavor profile of the Coenobium Bianco appears to reflect aspects sought after by reviewers in this month’s online Food and Wine. One said, “Lighter dry rosés, which have the minerality of white wines and the berry-fruit flavors of red wines, are terrific with fried foods like this crispy chicken” (note: the Coenobium also comes in a Rusticum version). Another reviewer wrote, “Crispy, juicy fried chicken needs a fairly substantial white wine as a partner. Look to Chardonnays from California’s Santa Lucia Highlands—they’re fruity and lush, but they also have a satisfying edge of acidity thanks to the cool breezes that blow in from the Monterey Bay.”

I plan on pairing a wide variety of wines with southern foods in September. Please check back!

After a little bit of recipe research on the best Southern Fried Chicken I have concluded that your best choice of oil is Lard or Peanut Oil as both have high smoke points and are loaded with flavor. I also read that duck fat combined with either clarified butter or Lard will add huge flavor too. Most importantly, I if you keep the heat above 350º it won’t soak into the chicken and thus will minimize the greasy flavor to which you referred in your post.

My childhood memory of fried chicken was made with bacon fat. We had a house keeper who asked us to save our bacon fat and every Friday she’d take it home to fry her chicken and it was the best! So it seems that Lard is king. But for your experimentation I recommend that you try a combination of 50% Lard (or bacon fat) and 50% Peanut Oil which could quite possibly deliver the best of both worlds in terms of flavor and performance.

Thanks for your efforts. And I like your memory story of bacon-fat fried chicken; but then, ANYTHING cooked in bacon fat is bound to be overthetopoutofthisworldamazing! I mean, it’s bacon! and I worship the pig (and duck and geese and) … bottom line: all fats have the same number of calories but affect the body differently, which is why I’m presently trying to re-envision my deep-south fried-chicken recipe to be awesome when cooked in grass-fed pig leaf lard (going back to my roots and how my grandmothers cooked). So please stayed tuned for updates to this post as I know I will be trying new versions as late summer/fall approaches.